“Yeah. You’re gorgeous, sweet, successful and you fell in love with one another before he was famous.”
“Fame doesn’t mean shit,” Beaumont chimes in and my face aches with heat that he overheard me. “Louis is humble. He’s good people and if you can’t see that about him, then you don’t deserve him.”
“Beau,” Hutton hisses.
“True fuckin’ story,” he snaps.
Hutton shakes her head and opens her mouth, but I hold my hand up. “Don’t. Beaumont is right. Louis deserves better than me,” I whisper.
It’s then that I decide that I can’t stay for dinner. I feel too out of place. I can’t just run out with Hutton and Beaumont watching me though. Biting the corner of my lip, I ask Hutton where the restroom is, and slip off around the corner.
I know if I linger, by the time I make my way back, I’ll be able to slip out the door with none the wiser. I’ll call Exeter tomorrow and apologize, she’ll understand. These are good people, too good for the likes of me. I was kidding myself when I thought that I could possibly become part of their circle.
Closing the bathroom door behind me, I inhale a deep breath, staring at myself for longer than necessary in the reflection of the mirror. I curse myself. I should be better than this, more mature, but apparently, I’m not.
Exhaling, I glance down at my phone, I bite my lip when I notice that ten minutes have passed. Opening the bathroom door, I look from side to side and quietly tiptoe out of the space and start to walk down the dark hallway.
“Going somewhere?” a voice asks from the darkness.
With a yelp, my entire body jumps. I feel strong arms wind around my waist and then my back is pressed against the wall. I try not to focus on Louis’ strong, muscular body touching every inch of my own.
Licking my lips, I tilt my head back and look up into his green eyes. He’s watching me, his eyes searching mine. “You aren’t wearing a ring anymore,” he needlessly points out.
I shrug a shoulder, not answering him. I have no doubt that one of the women in the other room has told him that I’m single now, rid of Joey for good.
“You let your hair grow out,” he murmurs, lifting his hand from my waist to tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear.
Nodding, I can say nothing other than, “Nuh huh,” like an idiot.
“It’s pretty,” he rasps, lowering his face toward mine.
If I wanted to touch my lips to his, it wouldn’t be hard to do. I could lift up on my toes and just take a taste.
He grins as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking. “Lost weight too, that I don’t like much,” he grunts.
My shoulder jerks and I narrow my eyes on his. I have lost weight. I don’t know how much, but working two jobs, both of which require me to be on my feet the entire time, plus not having time or energy to eat, that’s helped tremendously in aiding said weight loss.
“Love those thick thighs and ass you had, Tullie. I like a woman with curves.” Pressing my lips together, I turn my head to the side. “We need to talk,” he states.
“Isn’t that what we’re doing?” I snap, turning my gaze back to meet his.
His lips are turned up into a shit-eating grin. “I’ve been talking, that’s the first thing you’ve said to me.”
“What do you want?” I ask.
He shakes his head once. “Not here, not tonight. Meet up tomorrow after you get off shift?” he asks.
It’s my turn to shake my head. “Sorry, I have to run home and get ready for my second job. I won’t have time. Tonight’s my only night off.”
Something crosses over his face, but he quickly shakes it off. “You workin’ two jobs?” he asks, his brows knitting together in confusion.
“Pays the bills.” I shrug.
He grunts, pushing off of the wall. “Promise me you’ll text me. Meet you anywhere, anytime, Tullie. Just let me know.”
My lips part as I watch him walk away. He doesn’t turn the corner, instead, he looks back over his shoulder at me. “You sneak out of here tonight and it’ll hurt the girls’ feelings. Stay. I won’t cause any shit.”
Without another word, he walks away from me, leaving me with my back against the wall in the dark hallway.
“Fuck,” I hiss.
Squaring my shoulders, I do something that I wouldn’t have dared to do just a couple of months ago. I don’t run away, I walk back into that living room, and I join my friends.
Louis does as he’s promised, he doesn’t say another word to me the rest of the evening. I want him to though. I want him to say a million things to me, but he doesn’t even look in my direction. I know because I spend the entire evening looking in his as often as possible.
LOUIS
Letting out my breath in a whoosh, I stare at the dark ceiling. Lifting my hand, I slide it beneath the back of my head. Unable to control myself, my lips turn up into a small smile. Tulip was fucking adorable tonight, and equally adorably frustrated.
I thought that this trip was about closure. I thought it was about me proving to Tulip that I’m enough for her, and then possibly walking away—it’s not. This is about Tulip, about getting her to fucking open up to me and for me. I’m not over her, not in the slightest. And if last night is anything to go on, she’s not done with me either.
The way she watched me, it made my dick hard as a fucking rock. The way she smiled when she thought that I wasn’t paying attention, her face turning pink with her blush and her small smirk that played on her lips.
This story isn’t finished, it hasn’t been written between my Tullie and me. She just needs to know, to realize that I am a safe place. I’ll break down whatever it is that’s keeping her from me. I’m fucking strong enough to do it too.
My phone dances on my nightstand and I frown as I reach for it. The name on the screen causes my frown to deepen a little bit more.
“Yeah?” I answer.
“Yes. Have some respect,” the voice on the other end snaps.
I should tell him to go to hell, but I don’t. Respect is earned and this man has done absolutely nothing to earn mine. In fact, he’s done everything possible to prove to me that he doesn’t deserve my respect.
“What do you want?” I demand.
He waits for a moment, no doubt to prove to me that he thinks he has some kind of upper hand. Something he hasn’t had when it comes to me in years, since I was a kid actually.
“Why ain’t you takin’ care of your grandparents?” he demands.
I snort. Grandparents. What a fucking joke. These people are disgusting. They didn’t give a fuck about me until they saw me on television, until I became an unstoppable winner in the ring. Only then did they start to come around, and that was only because they wanted something—my money.
“So you’ve spent everything I’ve sent you this month already?”
“You know, my pills they’re expensive.”
Shaking my head, I pinch my eyes closed before I reopen them. “You mean your booze and dope?” I ask.
“My pills, yeah.”
Fuck. I shouldn’t have ever given him a goddamn dime. I should have told him to get the fuck away from me the first time he came sniffing around. I felt bad for them though. My grandparents shouldn’t be living off of social security and welfare. Not when I can help them. I just didn’t realize they were addicts and by helping them, I would be feeding their habits.